OCALA, Fla. (March 2, 2016) - Tallahassee Community College’s men’s basketball team rallied from a 21-point, second half deficit to knock off nationally-ranked Eastern Florida State College, 76-67, in the quarterfinals of the 2016 NJCAA Region 8/FCSAA State Division I Men’s Basketball Championship.
Tallahassee (20-11) advances to Friday’s 3 p.m. semifinal against Daytona State College. For the moment, Eastern Florida State’s season has come to an end though the Titans (27-4), who are ranked fourth in the NJCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Poll and No. 1 in the NJCAA Region 8 Men’s Basketball Coaches’ Poll, are in a good position to grab one of four at-large berths to the NJCAA Tournament.
With 17 minutes remaining in Wednesday’s game, advancing to Friday seemed highly unlikely for Tallahassee. Eastern Florida State, who led 42-32 at the intermission, scored the first 11 points of the second half to grab a 53-32 lead.
When Djordje Beronja scored at the 14:22 mark, the Titans’ lead was still 19, 57-38. What happened from that point forward will go down as one of the greatest comebacks in Tallahassee’s 25-year history as a member of the NJCAA.
A putback by Austin Grimes started a brief 7-0 run that pulled the Eagles within 13, 57-44, with 12:38 remaining. Eastern Florida State answered momentarily, scoring the next five points – a three-pointer by Southern Conference Player of the Year C.J. Jackson and a basket by Kareem Brewton to regain a 62-44 lead at the 11:27 mark.
Tallahassee held Eastern Florida State to one field goal – and just five points total – the rest of the game. Meanwhile, the Eagles’ caught fire from the field.
Jahvaughn Powell knocked down three three-pointers, part of a 13-0 run that pulled Tallahassee within 62-57 with 7:55 remaining in the game. After Brewton scored for Eastern Florida State, another putback by Grimes ignited a 14-0 run that ended with Rashad Lewis’ third three-pointer of the half that put Tallahassee in front 71-64 entering the game’s final minute.
Eastern Florida State pulled to within four with 57 seconds remaining, but the Eagles knocked down 5-of-6 free throws to seal the game.
Powell scored 26 points to lead Tallahassee. Lewis added 15 and Grimes, 11.
---Courtesy: TCC Athletics---
